and we have michael linton to thank for that. michael is co-chair politics aside 2012 just like 2010 and he, of course, is a trustee so we're delighted to have him. he'll moderate tonight. and with him and i'll ask the panel to come forward. howard gordon and michael sheen. >> figs of all, thank you for being here this evening and thank you for being here on a friday night. i don't do this for a living so you're going to have to fill in in the middle. let's start off with we all know the wonderful shows and movies you've been involved with, many of which have overlapped with politics from "homeland," "the queen", so the first thing i'd like to ask -- i'd like to talk about the shows "homeland" and "the queen." where did those come from in the first place? >> "24" came from a basic idea, two writers. joel said it was an in the shower idea. i'm thinking about television and in television there are 22 or 24 episodes in a season, thinking about the number 24 and said could you do an entire series of television over the course of one